Cup of coffee in the big time: I’m going to need a little more on this Kofi storyline

Fastlane was what I expected it to be: a pretty damn good pay-per-view.

There’s a lingering thing that is kind of bothering me, though.

I don’t quite feel like the issue between Vince McMahon and Kofi Kingston is entirely “earned.”

It feels like it happened so quickly. Kingston had all the momentum in the world and McMahon came along to steal that away, handing the Fastlane title shot to Kevin Owens. It was a fine enough moment in theory. Besides, why would I want Kingston to have his moment at Fastlane instead of WrestleMania?

But they are going to have to do some heavy lifting to explain what it is about Kingston that offends Vince to the point he would trick Kingston into a situation like the handicap match with The Bar.

The return of the McMahon Family to TV was all about “we’re listening to the fans” and the Vince/Kofi story flies in the face of that, which isn’t a problem since McMahons not listening to fans is true in both kayfabe and shoot environments. But going to the lengths of “haha, now The Bar is kicking your ass” feels ... odd.

This isn’t an anti-authority “Stone Cold” figure. Kingston is — as shown on TV within the last week — one of the guys you send on international missions to represent the WWE brand. In fact, Kingston has never been framed as anything other than the consummate “company man.” He’s always around, always busting his ass and always doing right by the fans.

An unhinged Vince McMahon is a staple of WWE. But this feels less like “Vince being Vince” and more like “Vince being senile.”

Kevin Owens is “box office” but Kingston isn’t? Mustafa Ali is the company’s idea of a better fit for a title match than the guy who has been around since 2007 and has held titles 15 times?

I can get there with this all. The scrappy underdog overcoming all odds is a perfectly viable wrestling storyline as proven by ... well, most of wrestling history.

It’s just that the motivation behind McMahon’s actions need to be explained in the coming weeks.

Are all the McMahons losing their minds? Vince seems like he’s gone crazy with this. Stephanie is being pushed over the edge by the situation involving Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. Shane lost his shit with The Miz. Hunter is being pushed to his breaking point by Batista.

Running a wrestling company is hard — but is it driving everyone in the McMahon family crazy?

Give me something to hold on to here and let me buy into Kofi Kingston’s story even more.

• Make sure to check out our recap and reactions post for WWE Fastlane.
• Luke Harper got back in a WWE ring over the weekend, which is just plain good news.
• Roman Reigns’ top 10 moments? There are some good ones.
• Ronda Rousey kept on trollin’ before Fastlane.
• Braun Strowman has been slipping into “comedy act” territory.
• Jim Cornette tried to give some insight into WWE’s creative team.

It’s Monday. Stay positive!